Embroiderers Rejoice!

For all fellow needle craft artisans out there: a new blackwork book has been published to the web!

For those of you who don't know what blackwork is, it's a type of embroidery that is from before the 1500's. The beautiful embroidery gained popularity and the common name of  "Spanish work" when introduced to England by Catherine of Aragon when she came back from Spain with chemises detailed with the intricate work. Geoffery Chaucer references what can be construed as blackwork in his Canterbury Tales but the fashion lost popularity in the 17th century. The image to the right shows two examples of black work. The simpler line design on the left are from the 1530's where as the larger, filled example on the right is from the 1590's.

This new web reference is made available by the author and, while you cannot re-post it without permission, the patterns are great for personal use! The book, Ensamplario Atlantio: Being a Collection of Filling Patterns Suitable for Blackwork Embroidery, is published here in Massachusetts and is filled with dozens of the smaller blackwork patterns used to fill the larger motifs like those used to fill the work on the right half of the image above.

So if you're looking for inspiration for a new project, look no further! Direct your cursor HERE to get your hands on this book!

Standing Collars in the 1300's?

So as I have been going over the images in the Codex Manesse I have noticed robes, not cloaks I think, that have these standing collars. I have included the pictures I've been studying in this post. In some cases they are the same color as the robe and others the are different colors. I am not sure if these are hoods, which they very well may be, or something entirely different. The drape at the shoulders and the general shape lead me to believe that these must be seperated hoods like so many people in the SCA and at ren faires wear.

I was slightly confused at first I have to admit. The neckline of this particular piece of clothing is standing up so I wondered if this was something other than a hood. In the image to the right the hood is blue over the red robe that is worn by the man. Many of the illuminations are of men wearing this item and are in a three-quarter pose so that you can't see what the back is like. As a designer I love three-quarter poses so you can see front and side details however there are times when a rear view is excessively handy. The image to the left has a full side view of a separate hood and it looks like it may have what I took to be a standing collar. I have added two images below That also show the item I'm puzzling out. I am nearly certain that it is in fact a hood, the more I look at it.


I do find it interesting that none of these hoods, if that is what they are, have the bib-type base that we tend to see on people in current re-enactments. Of course these are earlier depictions than hose we are used to seeing. I'm still not quite sure if these are meant to be separate articles of clothing or sewn directly onto the cloak or garment. I will just have to keep digging!

OOOOOooo...

So this just ran across my desktop and I thought I would share it with you. Some of you may not know what the SCA is and if you do well it a neat little video so you should watch it anyways!

Vair Cloak

I received several responses to my post which I have cross-posted on a few of my regular forums. The responses have been varied on how to achieve the look of vair from a labor intensive two-tone fur sewing project to a felting method. While I have gotten a number of ideas I had to share this particular image to the right.

Vair Cloak Belonging to Pal Ian Uzzell, Regia of UK

This particular example comes from Pal Ian Uzzell, Regia from the UK, by way of a response to my post on a forum. The snippit below is from the owner of the cloak himself:

"Hazel has now finished my 12th C tunic and cloak. The cloak is lined with vair - which is the belly fur of squirrels. Manuscripts show several cloaks so lined.The tunic is full length is heavily
embroidered at the neck and has wide lined sleeves."

The skins were gotten from the House of de Clifford, professional furriers. 

Ian notes:
"I quote from the supplier: This squirrel blanket/ plate is made from Baltic winter squirrel necks. it measures 28"w x 44"d This pattern is often used in heraldry and seen in medieval paintings. Squirrel was called 'vair' and the white fur was called 'miniver' . This fur is one of the purest softest furs in the world. The fur trade in Britain was started through the trade in Grey Squirrel pelts across the Hansiatic trade routes, and was probably bought in Novgorod, Russia. Grey squirrels not being native to the UK in medival times and only having red squirrels we wanted something ifferent!!!"

I myself am not a fan of using real fur unless I happen to be able to re-purpose an old fur coat that is still in good condition.This is why I am trying to find a way to make it instead of buying a piece from a furrier. That and it is just far too expensive for regular wear! Though I do have to admit that I am jealous of such a beautiful piece of work!

The Results Are In!

The answers to my previous quandary are in! The white details on the cloaks from the Codex Manesse illustrations I mentioned in this post are vair. Vair is the heraldic representation of patches of squirrel fur in an alternating pattern of blue and white.* So the lining and collars of the cloaks that are represented are the white bellies of squirrels with the black or blue fur from their backs. There is a possibility that it may have been a larger animal but I have no idea as to whether or not that would still qualify as vair or not.

Heraldic Ermine

I was prepared for the answer to be ermine but in retrospect I should have know that it was something quite different as the usual representation of ermine is three dots around a tail looking thing like what is seen to the right. I've seen a lot of that on shields and coats of arms but I suppose I didn't really put two and two together on this one. Now many people have tried with varied success to replicate ermine and I have found the best and longest lasting method to also be the most labor intensive. I start with a chosen white faux fur and then sew in smaller pieces of a black fur. The process includes trimming the area where the black fur tip is to be sewn in and backing the tip with additional black fur. Hot glue won't work for this so hand sewing is mandatory.

My question is now how do I recreate the look of vair. I don't really like using permanent marker to color the fur since it can run and ruin the whole piece. With ermine I can add in little pieces of black fur but I'm not sure that I could do that with this. Does anyone have any suggestions?





*Vair. (2011, June 12). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 11:16, June 21, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vair&oldid=433843956

Ermine or Not

There is a rather wonderful book that was written and illuminated between 1300 and 1340 (the approximate date of completion) called the Codex Manesse or the Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift in German. It was produced in Germany and It is the single most comprehensive source for the texts of love songs in Middle High German. Besides representing over forty poets it has a number of beautiful drawings that depict fashion, life and people of the 1300's. I have taken to studying something that I have found rather interesting in a few images and I am trying to decipher whether or not what was drawn is supposed to represent ermine or not. There's one image that I would like to produce which has brought me to this but that can wait until later.

The fist image I found was this one to the right. (A larger image can be found here.) The Minnesänger or poet depicted on this miniature could be Wilhelm von Gliers The Minnesänger explained on this miniature could be Wilhelm von Gliers who is said to have lived from 1267 to 1317 and was the son-in-law to Walthers von Klingen.  The part I am interested in is the white and black that decorates the cape.

 For all intents and purposes it looks like a great cloak of sorts with a definite collar of this white decorative material. It looks as though the whole cloak is lined in the stuff and so I can only assume that it is some kind of fur. I asked my husband, a historian, and he said that it may have been stoat fur while I thought perhaps ermine. Fortunately it was not the only example of this possible fur.

The second example to the left with both a female and male model wearing the same kind of decorated cloak. While the woman's version is much simpler, the men's version is pretty much exactly the same as the one above and both are clasped over the right shoulder. I think that the cloak itself looks very full and could possibly be a full circle cloak. I'm looking for any input that you may have as to what it may be. Stoat or ermine or or something else entirely?